The 2022 Curiosity Report: Designing with New Energy
Let’s Talk Energy.
If Buckminster Fuller was correct in that “the best way to predict the future is to design it,” then a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable tomorrow requires a transformation in how we approach the production, distribution, and consumption of energy.
An infinitely complex ecosystem made even more complex by the several ways we define it, generate it, and use it, this year’s Curiosity Report investigates that which powers our world — what keeps people, ideas, business, and our ecosystems running — and with renewed focus, explores how design can advocate for a better tomorrow. From smart agriculture and microgrids to urban windfarms and rebooting our workforce, step inside the future of energy.
Corgan’s 2022 Curiosity Report: Designing with New Energy pokes the bear, challenges us to confront the most invisible, yet most demanded commodity on our planet, and works with experts in the field to explore:
- a tapestry of solutions including how we generate energy with solar, wind, nuclear, hydroelectricity, geothermal, and biofuel, how we store it, distribute it, and ultimately how we use it.
- vertical farming and the future of a distributed food system that encourages on-site food production in dense, urban areas to meet the growing need while increasing the sustainability of food production
- a type of “human energy” — that buzz around the office — and our cognitive load, how to manage dynamic and sustained energy, and how to streamline experiences
- the rise of emerging technologies such as EVs and how trends including micro fulfillment centers, changing customer expectations, and pressure to prioritize critical infrastructure is ushering a new future for the grid supply chain and infrastructure
- the capacity of V2X systems and ask if building structures can facilitate the distribution and storage of renewable battery systems via electric vehicles, microgrids, and information energy systems
- the possibilities of hospital microgrids to better protect critical resources during peak demand, equipment failure, and emergencies
- cement made of banana peels, sneakers that generate energy while you walk in the park, and, of course, more…
As architects and designers, we need to approach energy transformation holistically. Everything we think we know about energy is about to change. So, with renewed focus and big energy, this year, we explore how our industry is evolving today to advocate for a better tomorrow.
Dive in!
